PHOENIX —
Christian Walker hit a pair of homers, Zac Gallen pitched five dominant innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks blanked the Texas Rangers 6-0 on Tuesday.
The Diamondbacks are a half-game behind San Diego in the race for the first wild-card berth in the National League playoffs. The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves are two games behind for the final berth.
The Rangers’ postseason chances, already slim, continued to shrink.
Joc Pederson and Walker hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to give the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead. Walker homered in the third to put Arizona ahead 4-0.
It was Walker’s 24th and 25th homers of the season, and his first two since recovering from an oblique injury on Sept. 3.
Gallen (12-6) allowed two hits and walked two while striking out seven.
The Rangers returned to Chase Field for the first time since beating the Diamondbacks to win Game 5 of the World Series on Nov. 1, clinching their first World Series title in history.
Nathan Eovaldi (11-8), who pitched six scoreless innings in that game, allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, with one walk and six strikeouts.
For the Rangers, Cuban Adolis Garcia went 0-for-3. Dominicans Ezequiel Duran went 0-for-2 and Leody Taveras went 0-for-3.
For the Diamondbacks, Dominicans Ketel Marte 0-for-4, Geraldo Perdomo 1-for-4. Venezuelans Eugenio Suárez 1-for-3, José Herrera 2-for-4 with one RBI.
